Exclusion of countries from Americas Summit a 'mistake,' says Chilean president


Canada's PM Trudeau greets Chile's President Boric in Ottawa

Mon, June 6, 2022

OTTAWA (Reuters) -The Biden administration's decision to exclude Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba from the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles this week was a "mistake," Chilean President Gabriel Boric said on Monday.

The U.S. decision, announced earlier on Monday, was taken due to concerns about human rights and a lack of democracy in the three nations, according to a senior official in the administration of President Joe Biden.

Talking to reporters in Ottawa, Boric said the U.S. move was "reinforcing the position that these other countries take in their own countries. We think it's an error, a mistake, and we're going to say that during the summit."

Boric, a leftist and former student protest leader who took power in March, was speaking alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after the two signed a memorandum to coordinate efforts to advance gender equality and empower women. Boric is scheduled to head to the summit after his Canada visit.

Boric's comment was the latest rebuke from a Latin American leader, highlighting how some are pursuing an increasingly independent foreign policy from Washington.

Earlier, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he would not attend the summit because not all countries from the region were invited.

Trudeau did not say whether or not he disagreed with the exclusion, but said Canada looked forward to participating fully in the summit.

"It's extremely important that we have an opportunity to engage with our fellow hemispheric partners, some like-minded, some less like-minded, but talking about important issues that our people have in common," he said.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Steve Scherer in Ottawa, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)